Luca Belgiorno-Nettis’s family contributed A$600,000 toward the A$10 million budget of this year’s Sydney Biennale (Australia’s largest outdoor arts festival), continuing a long family tradition of generous…

Politicians and artists often join together in an uncomfortable game.
Alan Porritt/AAP ImageMaret 13, 2014

As anyone who works in the arts business well knows, when art and politics meet (and certainly when art and politicians meet …) the result is more often than not awkward. Many of us will remember the fuss…

The Federal Minister for the Arts George Brandis has proposed a way to to deal with grant applicants who refuse corporate funding.
Alan Porritt/AAP ImageMaret 13, 2014

Today it was reported that the Federal Minister for the Arts George Brandis has requested that the Australia Council draft a new policy to deal with grant applicants who refuse funding offered by corporate…

The Sydney Biennale boycott campaign has raised important – and difficult – questions about how we fund the arts.
Wexner CentreMaret 11, 2014

In the wake of the Sydney Biennale’s split from its major sponsor Transfield in recent days, certain uncomfortable questions are again floating very close to the surface. In the late 1990s, I had a successful…

The Biennale’s severing of ties with Transfield won’t change anything for those suffering on Manus Island right now. But gestures matter.
Department of Immigration and Citizenship/AAPMaret 9, 2014

In July 1846, the American writer Henry David Thoreau went to prison for refusing to pay his poll tax. He couldn’t abide the thought that his money would be used, however indirectly, to perpetuate the…

It is infantile to pick on one holding company while ignoring the central role of the Australian government.
Eoin Blackwell/AAP ImageMaret 8, 2014

The Biennale of Sydney, which begins on March 21, has announced it will sever ties with its founding partner Transfield, following weeks of pressure from artists angered by the company’s links to Australia’s…

There’s a worldwide push to outsource activities previously left to the state.
DIBP Images/FlickrMaret 5, 2014

The awarding of a A$1.22 billion contract to Transfield Services to run the Manus Island and Nauru detention centres is yet another example of a government handing over responsibility to other parties…

Should artists refuse to work with the Sydney Biennale – whose major sponsor has contracts to operate offshore detention centres?
AAP Image/Caris BizzacaFebruari 11, 2014

Sydney will host its 19th biennale from March 21. It’s one of the most significant international art events on the local calendar. But questions have arisen over its connection to Australia’s policy of…